Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO) has been in a series of exciting and action-packed fights in his recent career, but now has a chance against the 40-year-old Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO) to not only score his biggest career win, but if he does, potentially retire one of the great fighters of this era.

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Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KOs) of Mexico City and Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KOs) of Denver clash in a 12-round welterweight world title eliminator.

Retiring a legend is going to be huge, said Alvarado. "I respect Marquez and his great career but now is my time. This is one of those opportunities that you cannot miss and I will give everything in the ring to get the win. It'll be a great fight and I have to fight without any mistakes to beat Marquez.

Marquez boxes his ears off for 12 rounds, proving he isn’t an “old” 40yo.

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Marquez gets worn down, beaten up, and stopped late – proving he IS an “old” 40yo.

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Opening the night of action from Southern California, undefeated Viktor Postol (25-0, 10 KOs) of Kiev, Ukraine, takes on Turkey’s Selcuk Aydin (26-2, 19 KOs) in a junior welterweight tilt scheduled for 12 rounds. Postol, 30, made his American debut in December 2012 when he earned a first-round knockout against Henry Aurad in Inglewood, California, and since then has won four consecutive fights to emerge as a top contender in the 140-pound division. Aydin, also 30, is no stranger to the big stage, as his three convincing wins in 2013 has propelled him back into junior welterweight title contention. The stakes are high as the winner of this fight will be poised to challenge for the 140-pound title.

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PPV for big fights this year, and the fact that this is on free(ish) TV is reason to celebrate. This is a huge fight where both men have much to win and much to lose. In early 2013, these were two of the most talked about fighters in the division, with Marquez riding high off his epic KO of Manny Pacquiao and Alvarado coming off a win over his rival Brandon Rios. But a pair of upset losses to Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov slowed both men down. The result is absolutely huge stakes for this fight. The winner is right back at the very top of the division and will be at the front of the line for a PPV encounter with Pacquiao. The loser will be on the first 2 fight losing streak of his entire career.

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Alvarado is in a no-win situation. If he loses, he’s done. If he wins, it’ll just be said that Marquez was too old.

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Kinda the same deal with Marquez. If Marquez wins, they’ll just say he fought an over-matched opponent. If he loses, they’ll just say he was too old and small.

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Alvarado, 33, was responsible for some of the most captivating moments of the 2013 boxing season. Last October, he lost his 140-pound belt when he submitted to the referee’s stoppage against Ruslan Provodnikov. As he moves up in weight to test his abilities in the welterweight division, the veteran’s passion is the key to replicating the form that inspired “fight of the year” performances against Brandon Rios in 2012 and in their 2013 rematch.

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Alvarado is though but he has been in brutal fights one after another after another. I’d like his chances better if he had fewer of these on odometer at this point in time. And he likes to mix it up and Marquez when you hurt him becomes super dangerous. All ingredients are there for dramatic early ending. I suspect somewhere after 8th round

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That’s the way it is unless Alvarado pulls of the fight of his life and manages to drop Juan a couple of times. But that’s mostly asking Alvarado to pull off the performance Mayweather pulled off against Márquez. Too much to ask unless Juan is suddenly diaper old. So basically, stoppage or nothing.

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A devastating right hand in the sixth round of his Dec. 2012 bout against Manny Pacquiao made Marquez the year’s unanimous knockout king. That heralded victory earned him a shot at Timothy Bradley Jr. and the welterweight title, but he subsequently lost to Bradley in 12 rounds by split decision. Now Marquez, 40, returns to The Forum, where he first showed promise as one of the sport’s future superstars, with a chance to build upon his already extraordinary hall of fame-worthy legacy.

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This is a good fight, and I think that Marquez will catch some hell early on, but I think that Marquez will decisively beat down Alvarado in the second half of the fight, after having a very hard time for the first half of the fight.

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Alvarado isn't exactly coming in hot for Saturday night's HBO showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez, but the 33-year-old Denver native is looking forward to what is really his biggest career opportunity to date, following a brutal loss to Ruslan Provodnikov last October.

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This is a huge step in my life to redeem myself and I know that this is only going to make me a better person, a better fighter and a better man in my life. I respect Marquez fully, he's a legend in this game, he's already made his mark. This is the perfect opportunity for me to redeem myself and even retire as a legend, he said.

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Alvarado says that the pressure of the fight won't be a problem for him, and that he's going to look to impose his will on the naturally smaller Marquez, who will be giving up significant height in the 143-pound catchweight fight.